


COMING IN OUT OF THE COLD

by Teijin



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-06-08 00:30:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6831604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teijin/pseuds/Teijin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hatred and vengeance are easy to come by in a society reduced to 'Might makes Right' and justice and freedom have a cost that isn't free.  Tianna Cutter, the sole survivor of Vault 111 never thought when she entered the vault that she would have need of her old tradecraft skills to survive a world gone mad and find her kidnapped son.  She will need more than that, for she is tied to the fate of the Commonwealth and the cost may very well be her humanity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold to the Bone

**Author's Note:**

> The news item from Travis is taken directly from the game and is not mine and belongs to Bethesda.

Tianna sat on the crumbling retaining wall and contemplated her new life as she watched the cold blues and purples of night chase the warm glow of the autumn sun away. The portable computer on her right arm called a pipboy, was playing music from a local radio station. The sounds light and fun in contrast to her heavy thoughts.

_October 23, 2287. 210 years to the day, after the bombs fell. Just goes to show you, God has a sense of humor if you are willing to look for it. Lord knows I need some levity after seeing my husband murdered, my son kidnapped and the life I knew destroyed. No planes trains or automobiles. No indoor hot water plumbing. No automatic laundry machines; unless I count Codsworth; and probably most annoying of all, no toilet paper._

She toyed with the security baton in her right hand, twirling it through her fingers and making it dance in the fading sunlight, while in her left she held a half-eaten chocolate Fancy Lad snack cake. Two centuries old and it was still mostly edible.

 _‘So what do I have to work with? A sturdy thump stick,’_ which she promptly swished through the air and then looked to her side.

 _‘Nate and Shaun,’_ 2 perfectly serviceable 10mm pistols _,_ the first firearms she found after being released from the cryopod in vault 111, and had christened the weapons after her dead husband and missing son.

Tianna looked down at herself, _‘and a fresh out of the wrapper, one size fits all, self-healing, dirt resistant, figure flattering, comfy blue & yellow vault-tec jumpsuit.’_

Even with global warming before the bombs, autumn nights in Boston were still chilly; and it seems that 200 years later was no different and the temperature was dropping. It didn’t help that she could still feel the bone cold of the cryopod, no matter how hot it might get or how many layers of clothes she could put on, Tianna didn’t think she would ever be warm again. She stuffed the rest of the snack cake into her mouth and adjusted the annealing seam from between her modest breasts to seal the front of the jumpsuit all the way up to her neck.

Positioning her long loose auburn hair behind her left ear, she tucks all her weapons into pockets and then gets up and walks towards the entrance of the subdivision where her old life ended. Although the sign was faded, it still declared this small island community as ‘Sanctuary Hills’. Some of the houses had been damaged and collapsed upon themselves, and others; like her house; were mostly still intact.

Continuing to count her blessings, Tianna walks up the road toward her old house, _‘I have some food and water, defensible shelter, and best of all; a friendly Mr. Handy robot called Codsworth.’_

Spying the automaton, she smiles but her mind switches gears to catalog what her opposition is. _‘To get justice and my son, I have to battle giant nasty bugs and who knows what other ugly critters. I just hope there’s no zombies! There’ll be radiation from the bombs and fallout. And I can’t forget about the other people out there. If Travis, the radio DJ is any indication, this_ Diamond City _may be just barely civilization, but there can’t be more than half a billion people on the whole planet and with no central governments, it’s going to be a_ Might makes Right, _kind of place anyway. And let’s not forget about the people that actually have my son.’_

“Hey Codsworth.”

“Miss Tianna, can I help you?”

She drapes her arm around the bulbous body of the hovering robot, “I’m going to spend the night here, and take you up on your suggestion to see about Concord in the morning. Assuming I wasn’t noticed, the Vault and Nate’s resting place should remain unmolested.”

As if on cue, Travis’ voice comes over the radio and stammers, “Some News, a rumor maybe. Someone…ah, I’m not sure who, I guess. I mean, it probably doesn’t matter who. Anyway, someone saw…well…I guess they think…ah…maybe they saw a person in a…a vault suit? I mean coming out of vault 111. …oh…It’s the vault 111 part that’s weird, I guess, right? It’s not…It’s not like no one has ever seen a vault suit before, I…I just…ah…man, well anyway…ah…you get the idea I guess, so let’s…I’ll…I’ll…I’ll just go back to the music.”

“Aw crap!” _33 hours after I crawl out of there, the entire Commonwealth knows. That information must have been relayed directly. If the location was pass on, this place will start seeing scavengers between now and tomorrow.   So, I either lock the vault back up or I get Nate out of there._

“Codsworth, I’ll be right back. I’m going to go secure the vault so Nate and the others will not be disturbed.” Tianna pulled out the 10mm pistol named Shaun, some ammo, some medicine, her husband’s wedding band, and the spare vault suit. “Take these and keep them safe. You are going to be my emergency cache. Stay away from everyone but me, if you can. Do you remember the rendezvous point? The pass phrase?”

“Yes Miss Tianna, I remember them both.” One of Codsworth optics, swiveled up to the clouds above, “You may want to hurry with your errand, though. Looks like it is about to rain.”

With that, a quarter sized rain drop hit Tianna’s sleeve, “It rains, it pours. I’ll be right back. Keep safe Codsy. You’re the only friend I got right now.” Tianna turns and sprints down the path back toward the vault.

With a hint of resignation and worry, Codsworth called out, “Oh do be careful, Mum,” and then more to himself, “Do be careful. I don’t wish to be alone again.”


	2. Cold Blooded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Gunner Malcolm Creed and his crew and what they did in Concord

The young man slumped to the ground with a neat hole in the forehead and oozing brains out the back of his head. The shot from the .44 revolver still ringing in the air.

Lieutenant Malcolm Creed holstered the large handgun, and cast a wary eye around the desolate road. The dust and grime from his travels and the fading light of the day, made his dark skin look that much darker.

Junebug yelled at Malcolm, “Fucks sake Lieutenant, you didn’t have to shoot him. We could have sent him to HQ as a recruit if you didn’t want to keep him as a meat shield!” The Gunners; the most organized mercenary group in the Commonwealth always had need of fresh bodies to supplement its ranks.

Malcolm backhanded the skinny blonde Gunner corporal and sent her sprawling in the dirt. “How many times have I told you to call me Captain? Get it through that stupid empty head of yours. If there is one thing you need to remember with your two brain cells, it’s that I am Captain now! Got it?”

Junebug wiped the blood off her lip, picked herself off the ground and answered with a contrite “Yes sir.”

“That means all of you!”

Private Wang gave him his signature leer and went back to searching the dead man.

Sargent Harley sighed, “Gotta love those battlefield self-promotions; don’t you; _CAPTAIN._ Hey Wang, stop molesting the corpse and get the gear.”

Madman, was a grizzled veteran sergeant with thick wiry white hair, a big bushy mustache that curled up at the ends, and a perpetual 5’O-clock shadow on his face. He finally trudged the final steps to where the rest of the crew had stopped and in a contemplative and gravelly voice stated, “Junebug’s not wrong, Capt’n.”

Malcolm was a big man, over six feet tall, and Madman was the only one of the group that could look him eye to eye. Madman was also the only one in their merry band that Malcolm felt he had to justify his actions to. “Because Madman, that little punk farmer was wanna-be raider bait. I, we, don’t have time to train a rookie to take orders or how to wipe his ass outside his farm, and his gear is better off with us.”

Harley leaned his stocky frame up against a still standing light pole and asked, “So Wang, what did we exchange the _CAPTAIN’S_ .44 shell for?”

The wiry Asian man spread out the contents found in the dead man’s pockets while grinning like a fool. A basic .38 pipe pistol, a half dozen shells, 3 caps, some brahmin jerky, and a lumpy multicolored mutfruit.

“Yeah, that was worth it.”

“Dibs on the mutfruit!” Junebug snatched up the baseball sized fruit only to have it plucked out of her hands easily by Malcolm as she passed him by.

“You want this?” Malcolm threw it far into the bush where it promptly disappeared. “Fetch it bitch.”

Madman put a hand on Junebug’s shoulder and directed her to walk before she could offer a retort she might regret.

Wang finished squirreling everything away and skipped to catch up to Madman and Junebug. Harley shrugged his shoulders and followed leaving Malcolm to bring up the rear.

Malcolm fumed. _‘Insubordinate fucks and freaks.’_ “Where to next Madman?”

“Concord.”

“Why?”

“Cover.”

“Fucking hell, Madman! Don’t make me come up there and beat more than a one word answer out of you! Why the fuck do we need cover?”

Madman turned his head, his eyes glazed over as he looked through Malcolm. “Death is comin’, and a storm is on its heels.”

\---

The roar of the shotgun sounded like thunder as it echoed off the walls of the tunnels of the Concord Municipal Works beneath the town. Malcolm shot the already dead raider again and laughed manically, “Come on you bitches! Death isn’t coming; IT’S HERE!”

He used the stock of the empty double barrel shotgun to hook the next charging raider to land behind the sandbags he was using for cover. Malcolm picked up a baseball bat, and tossed it to Harley as the sergeant joined the fight. Together they bashed and beat the downed raider until his skull cracked and the stink of blood and brains filled the air as it splattered all over the bricks and the two men.

Harley grinned and kicked the dead body again. “Retreat is secure with deadfall chains on the door, not that we’ll be needing it with this sorry group of fuck ups.”

Malcolm gave a feral grin to his man and called over his shoulder, “Hey Madman, I thought you said death was coming.”

\---

Wang was topside in the streets tasked with making sure all the raiders entered the tunnels. Most of the raiders were already down below with only a few stragglers, if that, left up here.

Dark was descending fast and mist was rising from the ground. Wang spotted one more raider walking up the street but they seemed oblivious to his presence. He drew a bead on them with his carbine and then watched as the raider’s head disappeared. Wang looked at his gun in confusion. He didn’t fire, so where did the raider’s head go? The body stood there without the head and blood misting about from the neck. Then he saw it; the Devil’s head appeared where the human one had been moments before. Curling soot colored horns and piercing eyes that see through to your very core. A mouth filled with sharp teeth that feasts on one’s sins, and breath so feted from rotten and decaying souls that Wang swore that he could feel and smell that hellish air from 100 yards away.

The body crumpled to the ground and the monster took a step forward. The beast’s oversized arms reached to the ground as it started moving on all fours, tearing up the ground with its massive claws. By the time Wang had turned to sprint toward the opening of the tunnels it was only 50 yards away. Loose stones caused Wang to trip and tip to a dangerous angle that threatened to drive him into the pavement. His arms wind milled around while he only just managed to get his feet back under himself. He flinched as he saw the talons, longer than his wrist to finger, slicing through the air toward him and he screeched like a little girl.

He grabbed his legs and curled into a ball and fell like a stone through the access to the tunnels as the huge claws pass through where he had been. He scrambled into the alcove and slid into the ankle deep water. Counting on the confines of the tunnels to amplify and confuse the sound with the echoes, Wang shot his 10mm pistol down the corridor as the demon followed him through the access way. The monster took the distraction, and Wang slipped further into the now warming water as his bladder relaxed knowing that he would live for now.

\--

Malcolm gave a feral grin to his man and called over his shoulder, “Hey Madman, I thought you said death was coming.”

“RROOOAAAARRRRR!!”

Madman called from around the corner in his signature measured gravel voice, “Death is here.”

Malcolm and Harley looked at each other and said simultaneously “Deathclaw! FUCK!”

Malcolm called over the iron grated bridge that joined the two sides of the tunnel, “Deathclaw truce!”

The raiders on the other side stopped firing and looked at each other and then over at Malcolm and Harley in suspicion. Another roar from behind them and a raider from the back of that group broke and ran across the bridge and past the two Gunners. Seeing their man unmolested retreating up the passageway, the rest of the raiders started running across the bridge. Harley followed to make sure they didn’t fuck up the retreat.

Hiding in the water beneath the bridge, Junebug heard little of the current situation. Seeing the raiders crossing the bridge, she crawled up behind the last one and hamstrung him and slit his throat in quick practiced fluid motions. She was very pleased with her handiwork until Malcolm called to her, “Stupid bitch!”

She stood and looked at him realizing that it wasn’t an insult but a warning. The puff of hot foul smelling breath illustrated just how much trouble she was in! She dropped to the grating in a heap as if her bones had fled her body, as the Deathclaw’s jaws chomped the air where she had been standing. The confines of the tunnel impeded the massive bulk of the 12 foot creature giving her a fraction of a second advantage to avoid dying at its hands. The talon tipped foot hesitated as the monster shifted its balance to try and step on her. Junebug rolled and slipped over the edge of the bridge to successfully avoid the foot but found herself suspended in midair.

The Deathclaw had swung its massive right claw to eviscerate the falling human but only managed to snag a claw on the back of her reinforced leather armor. Junebug cried as she wiggled there like a fish on a hook. She hated herself for those tears running down her cheeks and in that instant fury blossomed within her. She would be damned if she was going to be weak and die here. Fuck that!

That fraction of second edge saved her life again as she grabbed her armor and bootstrapped her legs to swing straight up over her head and forced her torso to follow. The wide sweeping arc of the demons arm scraped something in the tunnel on its journey to disembowel her.   The claws instead only sliced effortlessly through the back of her armor, shredding her fatigues and lacerating her back with wide shallow bloody cuts from the razor sharp tips.   Junebug howled in pain and the now ruined armor opened and sent her to hit the brackish water below where she sank and disappeared from view.

Malcolm told Madman, “Get down! I got this.” The captain drew his .44 as Junebug was caught on the end of a claw, and started firing as she hit the water. Six shots from the powerful handgun from 15 feet away did nary a scratch on the blue black scales and only managed to get the attention of the huge beast.

“FUCK! Come get some you ugly mother!”

Malcolm turned and ran up the passageway behind him, reloading the .44 as he went. The Deathclaw struggling to follow in the tight confines of the tunnel.

“HARLEY! FLANKING POSITION!”

Harley, back in the retreat got the raiders to divide between the 2 corners of the room and amidst the old office furniture and then explained, “The captain and all of you are going to unload into the front of it while me and the rest of our crew are going to hit from behind. That should keep it distracted enough to not go after anyone.”

“HARLEY! INCOMING!”

Harley ducked out the room down the hall and into a side room with a door. Malcolm came past moments later with the deathclaw lumbering behind in the cramped tunnel. Frustration radiated in palpable waves from the dangerous beast. Its wide horns carving furrows in the walls near the ceiling and its shoulders and hips bumping awkwardly on the sides of the passage way impeding its movement even more. In this area of the Municipal Works, Malcolm wasn’t in any danger of being caught. In fact he picked up a discarded .38 pipe pistol that he fired sporadically to keep the monster following and focused on him.

As Malcolm passed by, Harley handed him 2 frag grenades, “Slam the door and the chains fall and locks the door.”

Malcolm stepped into the room and moved to the back amid the raiders and instructed them, “The belly’s the weakest spot. Hit it hard!”

Malcolm went back to the door, emptied the pipe pistol at the advancing beast and ducked behind the door. The thing poked its head in and the raiders panicked and opened fire just like Malcolm knew they would. The beast was so cramped, there was no way the raiders would get a good clean shot at its soft underbelly. When the beast was fully in and advancing to the back of the room, Malcolm popped the pins and rolled both frag grenade into the group of raiders. He rounded the door, stepped out and slammed the door as hard as he could, hearing the chains fall in place.

Muffled screams and roars could be heard though the door as the deathclaw ripped into the raiders. Two muffled explosions rattled the heavy door and shook the tunnels, and debris fell from the ceiling as quiet settled like the dust. “Rest in pieces you stupid motherfuckers.” Malcolm grinned as Madman joined him. “Let’s go see if the others survived.”

Harley joined them moments later dragging a raider girl behind him. “Look what I found Captain.”

The young girl, maybe late teens with dirty blonde hair and dressed in leathers and raider armor, looked at the men with burning hatred. “You murdering sons of bitches! You killed my family! You broke the truce. I’m gunna kill you!”

Wang helped Junebug limp up to the gathering. She needed the help but was trying to keep from breathing in the nasty stink of piss wafting off of him.

The girl squeaked in surprise and tried to squirm away from Wang and Junebugs molesting hands. Junebug purred in the girl’s ear, “I don’t think so. You’re a spoil of war, and we are going to spoil you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Cold Read

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tianna meets the Gunners, and we find out why she hates them.

October 24, 2287

The rain fell steadily outside the house everyone had taken refuge in. Madman was leaning up against the closed front door, Junebug was kicked back in the chair and feet up on the ottoman.

Malcolm jumped up from the couch, looking at the wet frightened beauty in a vault suit between Harley and Wang and exclaimed, “Damn sergeant! What bait are you fishing with? That’s two in 2 days!”

“Nice, huh Captain? But I think she’s too soft, won’t last.”

Tianna thought, _Hmmph. Just you wait and see, I’ll show you who’s soft._

Malcolm feigned hurt, “What?! No! No, she is too pretty to see hurt. We need to protect her, keep her safe.” He smiled wide at her, “You want us, need us to keep the bad things from Commonwealth from you don’t you?”

_First rule of dealing with the enemy, make them underestimate you,_ Tianna made her voice sound as small and vulnerable as possible, “Please mister, don’t hurt us…me.”

Harley handed a 10mm pistol to Malcolm, who in turn checked it, cleared the clip, pocketed the ammo and tossed the gun casually aside into the kitchen.

Malcolm took her hand and drew her away from Harley and Wang, “Us, huh? Now, now, we won’t hurt you.” He took the pipboy off her arm, “You won’t be needing this since we’ll be taking care of you.” He thought, _Damn but those vaults keep ‘em nice. Five-six, pale skin, nice sleek body, and a redhead. The whores in Goodneighbor would give an arm and a leg to look half as good as her._

“Now…” Malcolm took a sniff. “Wang, godsdamn, you stink. Go wash up.”

Wang stripped down right there in the living room leaving his gear and clothes in a mess and walked out with a leer at everyone.

“Now…” Malcom started again with his fake smile, “What’s your name?”

_Second rule of dealing with the enemy: Don’t give them information they can use against you._ “N..Nora. Nora Cutter.”

“Well Nora, I’m Captain Malcolm Creed, the leader of this merry band.” Malcolm gestured at everyone in turn, “That’s Corporal Junebug, Sergeant Madman, Sergeant Harley, and the Private Stinky Wang out in the rain.”

Tianna critically assessed the group; _Captain Malcolm Creed; paired mismatched lieutenant bars do not a captain make. Probably field self-promotion. Probably late 30-something, egotistical, narcissist, psycho bastard. Sergeant Harley; late 20s like me, and that’s where the similarities end. He’s sadistic, sarcastic, grudgingly 2 nd in charge, but would take Creed’s place in a heartbeat. Private Stinky Wang; what a name, not a day over 21, pervert and kick puppy of the group. Eats up the attention. He’s too green, so he has to be the lucky one. Corporal Junebug; 19 going on 30, serious dyke. Would rather freeze to death than share a bedroll, but somehow is the glue that holds these assholes together. They would self-destruct in a month without her. Sergeant Madman; 40 or 50? Hardcore veteran. Hmm. That’s it, that’s all I got on him. Either makes him the real power in the group and/or the most dangerous._

Malcolm had her sit down on a stool and took her hand, fingering her wedding band, “Now Nora, your husband…” he looked into her eyes, “we both know is dead.” He felt her flinch and was satisfied with his deduction. He took the ring off her finger, “Our customs outside the vault are different than yours. You want us to protect you right? Of course you do! Say it, you want me to protect you.”

_Like I didn’t see this coming a mile away,_ “Please protect me,” _from you._

Malcolm almost slipped and grinned like a fool. “See? Not so hard.” He slipped the gold band on his pinky finger just past the first knuckle. “I’m going to protect you, and with that we’re married.”

Malcolm gestured to the rest of them, “Out! Me and my new bride have much…” and he leered at her, “…to discuss.”

 

May 2061

A young Tianna traced the bruises on her mother’s neck gently, “Momma, why do you let him do that? Didn’t you always say that bad boys had too many balls and not hesitate to break them?”

Her mother drew the collar up to hide the black and blue injury. “Tia baby, listen carefully. You should always fight the battles you know you can win. Sometimes you have to take what comes and just hold out for when things are more in your favor to win. That’s where I’m at now. But listen, there are times you may not have a choice and have to fight to win, even if in the end you don’t. OK?”

Tianna nods her head. “But what about breaking the…”

Her mother interrupted, “Sometimes that the only thing you can do.   Sometimes it’s enough, but you always have to deal with the consequences. OK?”

Tianna nods her head again.

“Pray with me now, sweetie. God, grant me the patience to work toward the impossible, the courage to take charge now and the strength to make a difference.”

 

October 28, 2287

Tianna flexed her arms and hands that were tied to the tree over her head. The marvelous clothing technology that was her vault suit was ruined and in taters from the abuse she had withstood to date. Only Malcolm’s ego stayed his hand from killing her. He wanted to personally break her for what she did to him. She kept her face a mask of fear and sorrow, every little bit helped, but these psychos weren’t buying it anymore. The only thing she could do was try to keep up with what they wanted and make it as boring as possible. Luckily they bored easily.

Harley came up to Malcolm where he was standing watching Tianna. “Hey _LEUITANANT,_ why don’t we just kill her and be done with the bitch?”

Malcolm cuffed him on the back of the head, “That’s CAPTAIN to you. One: She’s not going anywhere. Two: She’s still connected to getting into the vault, somehow, and that is what command wants. Three: I’m going to personally break that bitch in.”

“That’s _CAPTAIN_ when you start acting like one again, and what makes you think that she’s your personal property. You don’t have the ring anymore.”

Four days ago…

Malcolm dropped like a rock, the scream on his lips dying from the new pain when Tianna’s fist drove his balls up into his groin. She spit the foul blood from her mouth as she stood up. She looked down at her handy work and spied her wedding band.

She wrenched it off his unresisting hand covering his bloody groin and was about to put it on when she was tackled from behind by a naked Wang. Idiot perv was watching and witnessed his captain’s predicament. Her wedding ring flew out of her hand as he dropped her to the ground; all the while screaming his fool head off. She swung her elbow behind her into his head twice before he stopped screaming and let her go. She twisted around to punch him in the jaw but he was moving to up to cover her body and instead her fist connected with his neck.

She could feel the hard cartilage under the soft tissue collapse from the strike. He would suffocate in a matter of minutes. It was a poor death and meaningless unless she was able to get away. Unfortunately, Junebug was almost on her before she was able to get up. Tenacious and reckless, Junebug nonetheless kept Tianna occupied while Harley clubbed her from behind.

Three days ago…

The five Gunners were looking at Tianna when she finally became conscious. Her hands were tied to a high tree branch on the great maple tree that occupied the round at the end of the neighborhood. She got her feet under her and took some of the strain off her arms as they stretched above her.

Wang’s perpetual leer was actually a welcome sight. If he had died, she might not have been waking up now. They were probably able to use a stimpak on him to keep him from dying. Malcolm’s face was an open book of pure restrained rage. Harley and Junebug wore hatred and Madman was unreadable as ever.

Malcolm limped up to her and drew back his fist. He opened it up pulling his blow at the last second, but it still had Tianna seeing stars when his hand connected with the side of her face. _Yep, still too pretty to mark._ Almost as if he were reading her mind, he gut punched her several times. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Oh Nora, it might have been unpleasant, but nothing like what I’m going to do to you now.”

Malcolm turned around and addressed the others, “OK maggots, until I personally fuck this bitch up, all of you keep your dirty dicks away from her.” Junebug smiled evilly, as Malcolm continued, “That includes you corporal.”

Junebug turned her smile sweetly on him and said, “Of course captain. Whatever you say.”

 

The present…

Malcolm was slapping her face until she looked at him, “OK Nora, what did you do to the pipboy? How do you make it work right?”

“I don’t know…” _Of course I know why it won’t work. One of the boys down in Tech at the Firm showed me how to bio lock one. It would be a total betrayal to Nate and the others to give YOU a working one that would let you into his and theirs resting place._  Tianna willed what little tears she had left, to leak, “…the only thing that ever worked on it was the radio and the Giger counter.” Her voice cracked, “Please, I’ll be good, don’t hurt me anymore, please?”

Malcolm ignored her and addressed Madman, “Madman, anything you can give me on the vault?”

Madman called over from the grill he was fixing up, “Nothing, and before you ask if I am sure, the answer is still nothing.”

Malcolm fumed, “Fuck! You’re useless! Alright, you stay here and watch the bitch, the rest of us are going up to the vault.”

Ten minutes later the smell of cooking meat tickled Tianna’s nose. Her stomach growled loud and long and she wondered what animal it might have been. She looked over at the grill Madman was cooking on, and watched as he got up and walked to stand before her. She looked up and up until she could look at his face. She thought her hunger was taking its toll, when his eyes seemed to shimmer. Her voice was small when she squeaked, “Please? Please, let me down. I’ll be good, I promise. No more trouble, please?”

Madman looked at her hard for a minute. His voice was low and measured but strong, “You and I both know that’s not you. Drop the act, Missy. You do that and I’ll cut you down.”

Tianna stared back at him and twitched her shoulders in a shrug. She still couldn’t get a read on this guy. She dropped her mask and summoned her real voice, “OK. How’s this?”

“Better. What’s your real name, Missy?”

“Tianna Cross. Cutter is…was my husband’s surname.”

Madman looked at her for a moment before pulling out a combat knife. He traced the air an inch from her body until he cut the rope holding her hands. She dropped to the ground rubbing her wrists and stretching her body as much as she could.

He dropped two pieces of clothing in front of her, “Something to clean up with and something to wear. Your choice. Go down to the water, I can see you from here.” His lips twitched under the big moustache in a momentary smirk, “Don’t believe me. Hold up a finger or two while you are cleaning up and I’ll show what is was when you get back. Try to run and I’ll put a bullet through your heart.”

The way he said it, it was a feat that he had performed many a time, so she didn’t doubt that he couldn’t do just what he said. She picked up the clothes; an old grey suit jacket and a yellow sundress with faded pink flowers; went down to the water edge and dropped the clothes as her feet. She turned to see Madman in the waning light, sitting in the patio chair with a rifle across his knees. Keeping her hands in the shadow of her body, she put her right hand up in the Vulcan salutation; hand raised with the palm forward and the thumb extended, with her fingers parted between the middle and ring finger. Next, she place the middle and ring finger together, with the pinky and index finger spread. She held that one for a moment before curling all but the pinky and thumb in a ‘hang loose’ wave. All the while her left hand had only the middle finger extended. “Let’s see if he gets all that.”

The first day she was hanging on the tree, Junebug came when no one else was around and smeared some foul smelling concoction all over her skin under the vault suit. It made her skin crawl, tingle, sting and numb all at the same time. Tianna stripped off the ruined vault suit and was so glad to be able to finally wash up.

She ripped off an arm of the suit jacket and used that as a wash cloth. She carefully cleaned over the slowly healing welts that Harley had inflicted with a whip on day 2. He was most pleased with ruining the vault suit and exposing the flesh underneath, but he quickly grew bored when she didn’t give him the enthusiastic screams and begging he wanted. It hurt. Oh god did that hurt, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. She had to stay strong for her son’s sake.

Day 3 was a reprieve. Wang didn’t seem to hold any animosity toward her for almost killing him. He was just a total perv. Luckily she could tune out all of what he was doing and thankfully he couldn’t do half of what she imagined he could have done if Malcolm hadn’t issued his orders. She figured that this kind of treatment might break someone from this time, but these guys were amateurs. Not consistent, not patient, not really invested in what they really wanted.

Tianna waded out to calf deep in the water. She felt a tap in the middle of her back from a small pebble, and when she turned around, Madman called, “Don’t go any further.” The rest of the threat unsaid, Tianna knew exactly what would happen. There was something strange about him. He wasn’t going to harm her; for the moment anyway. She would just have to wait and see what was going to happen.

She quickly finished up; including rinsing out her hair; not wanting to stay in the cold water any longer than necessary. She used the rest of the suit jacket to dry off and donned the sun dress. It fit well enough across her chest and shoulders. It only came down to an inch above her knees, although she would have preferred that it was below them instead.

She couldn’t help but to walk quickly back to where the wonderful smells of food was coming from. _Don’t get your hopes up. This is all part of the plan to break you,_ she chided herself. Madman stopped her when she was inside the glow of the fire off the grill. It took him a few moments with both hands to finally duplicate the hand signs she had used. He smiled when he got to the last 2. “These two I know,” he said. He then picked up a skewer with several lumps of cooked meat on it and held it out to her. She looked at it and then at the grill. Madman nodded that she could choose her own, while he worked on eating the one he had offered her.

Tianna sat down on the other chair near him and savored the warm cooked flesh. She was done before he was and sat there glancing at the grill while mostly looking at Madman trying to improve her read of him. He nodded again at the grill and she didn’t hesitate to grab another stick. He reached down and put a Gwinnett Ale before her and pocketed the cap. She took a long pull on the bottle and asked with a mouthful of food, “Hmmm…what kind of animal is this?”

“Squirrel.”

She closed her eyes and smiled, “Best squirrel I ever tasted.” _Only squirrel I ever tasted, but better than any Cram in a can or Salisbury steak._

“So are you suppose to be the good cop? You know…get the info and cooperation with food and freedom where the morons couldn’t with threats and pain?”

Madman leveled his eyes on her, “I’m not good. I would have made you my bitch that first night, given you to the crew on the second and killed you on the third.”

“Didn’t answer my question.”

“Nope.”

Tianna sat perplexed looking at him. “So…you’re strong enough to stand up to them, so why aren’t I your ‘bitch’,” she gestures her hands to indicate herself, “you could have had this any time during the last 3 days.”

“Not interested.”

She wasn’t sure why, but that hit her ego, “You gay?”

Madman smiled wide beneath his huge curling moustache and grabbed his crotch, “Nope. This old dog hasn’t been off the porch in a coon’s age. Still likely to be sleepin’ and dreamin’ for another.”

Tianna looks away back at the grill, “Can I have another one?”

“Nope.”

She looks back at his face and sees where this is going. _I’m hungry and need all the fuel I can get to get out of this. Let’s see what we’re willing to negotiate for._ “So what would I have to do get another squirrel kabob?”

Madman looked her up and down and focused on her chest, “Let me see.”

She looked at him incredulously, “Really?! Didn’t get enough looks over the last 3 days?”

He looked her in the eye and his voice was measured and even, “Isn’t the same. This is fodder for a sleepin’ dogs sweet dreams on a cold night. ”

“Hrumph. That’s worth more than one, so the let me have the rest of them.”

“Half.”

“Three quarters.”

“Half,” he said with finality.

“Fine. Half and another brew,” she negotiated just a bit more.

“Done.”

Tianna still couldn’t figure him out. She shouldn’t trust him or like him, but he’d gotten more out of her by being nice and asking than by being an ass like Malcolm. A look was nothing and she reasoned that getting the food was worth the price. She slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders, and used her right arm to keep it from falling. She got up and stepped forward only to have his huge hands grab her waist and set her on his knees facing him.

“Hey!” Her hands went to confront his wrists and her dress dropped off her breasts and slid down her stomach. She didn’t realize just how much the last 3 days sapped her strength until now. She brought both hands to wrestle with his right and in doing so allowed his left hand to travel up to her right breast.

“Stop that!” Even as she protested, she noticed the years of calluses on his hands. Strength radiated out from them but they were surprisingly gentle like he was handling a fragile piece of porcelain.

She focused her attention on getting the wayward hand under control when his moustache tickled her as he captured her left breast in his mouth for the briefest of moments. It wasn’t unpleasant, but things were quickly getting out of control. “Hey! That’s not part of the deal!” Before she could react further, both his hands had encircled her waist, picked her up, and set her off his knees. He drew her straps back up her arms and she was again clothed before him.

_What the hell just happened?! He had me dead to rights and nothing happened. Was I testing him? Why is he such an enigma? Why can’t I read him?_

Madman was already dividing up the spoils on the grill, only taking one and pushing the rest over towards Tianna. He pulled out another beer, opened it and pocketed the cap like before.

Tianna picked up another skewer and plopped down in her seat, shying away from him as much as possible. She pulled a piece of meat off the stick, popped it in her mouth and chewed slowly. Madman ignored her stares as his gaze shifted over the darkening landscape in practiced ease of being on watch.

She set the food down, smoothed out her dress and addressed him, “OK Madman, I can’t figure you out. Why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain?”

He was idly turning something in his hands as he turned his gaze back fully to her, “Don’t want to see anyone else get killed.”

“You mean besides me, ‘cause the rest of them sure would like to see me dead, and I plan on taking out as many of you as I can before that happens.”

“Nope. Including you.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and leaned forward and calmed her voice, “The best way for that to happen is to let me go. We’re all going to die sometime, but that would keep us all alive for a bit longer.” She smiled, “No short term conflict.”

He leaned forward and held her right wrist, and that is when she really noticed the inhaler he had been toying with. She tried to pull back but he held her wrist firmly. _Great! Now he’s going to addict me to something._ She smiled weakly and lied, “Hey now, thanks for sharing the squirrel and all, but I’m allergic to that stuff.”

His eyes followed hers to the Jet Inhaler, “That’s not for you.”

“She relaxed minutely, “Didn’t figure you for an exhaust head.”

“Not what ya think,” he said as he took the drug, inhaling deeply.

Tianna tried to pry his hand off her wrist even using a pressure point, but when he tightened his grip just a bit, she knew it was pointless. He would release her when he was ready. “Really, we’re doing great. We don’t have to do the whole bonding over doing drugs together type of thing. I’ll just go and things will be cool between us.”

His eyes glassy and luminescent even as the full moon disappeared behind a cloud, “Something I had to see, something I need to tell you.” He released her wrist and sucked down the rest of the contents of the inhaler.

Tianna pulled her hand back to her chest and watched as Madman went rigid as every muscle in his body tensed. The patio seat he was on, creaked in protest to the strain. The wind picked up a bit and an uneasy feeling started crawling about the base of her skull like a tiny animal trying to escape. Many thought flashed quickly through her mind, _He’s going to OD. What did he want to see? There must have been at least 5 more hits in that thing. It can’t be that important, just go. This is crazy. It’s all crazy. What can I do to help him? Where do I start?_

Just as she was about to act, he slumped in his seat, his head tilted up at the sky. That small furry animal in the base of her skull raced down her spine as he said, “Storm’s comin’.”


	4. Cold Nose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madman sees some weird stuff and Tianna attempts to get away. A new friend shows up.

Madman slumped in his seat, his head tilted up at the sky, “Storm’s comin’, death is in its wake.”

A chill raced down Tianna’s spine and when Madman looked at her; no, not at her, in her; that shiver raced right back up into the base of her skull.

“Lightning strikes 3 on one, take the pen or take the gun.”

The wind picked up blowing Tianna’s hair into her face. She franticly brought it under control and with nothing to tie it back with, deftly weaved it into a braid and twisted it into a bun.

Madman was speaking again, looking to the south, “Find the Innocent deep underground. Strike the evil from the Hole.”

Clouds had completely obscured the moon from view and thunder roiled lazily over the country side. That shiver down her back spread out over her body like the lightning that crawled across the sky. Lightning flashed overhead and struck the Red Rocket icon atop the coolant station just on the other side of the bridge. “Lightning strikes, one. Free the Innocent to be unbound. Free them all or be undone.”

Goosebumps broke out all over her skin as his words reached her ears. Despite the rumble of thunder and howl of the wind, she had no trouble hearing him.

“A fair cloud is coming, don’t give in to the cult it makes.”

His head swiveled from shoulder to shoulder and back again, as if searching for something, “A Whirlwind is coming. What does it give? What does it take?”

She would have bolted, but a macabre sense of curiosity kept her glued to her seat. She should have given into that impulse when Madman returned his gaze to her. All she could see of his eyes were white, but then his eyes rolled down and they were pools of inky blackness, “Lightning strikes, two…” and another bolt hit the Red Rocket while thunder from overhead shook everything around them, drowning out what every he had said next.

Drops of cold water the size of quarters, plummeted sporadically from the sky. Tianna tensed and sprang out of her seat only to be casually caught by Madman’s iron grip and flung back into her seat, his hand still encircling her wrist. His next words caused her chest to tighten, she couldn’t swallow and her breath hitched in her throat.

“Your humanity withers and Humanity thrives.”

The wind stilled for a brief moment and then the rain began to fall. Huge drops that splashed when they hit something. Tianna’s dress was soaked in a matter of seconds, the wet fabric cold against her body, providing no protection from drops that fell so hard they stung.

Barely visible to the south, the Red Rocket was a defiant dark finger to the fury of nature. Madman turned in that direction. “Lightning strikes, one…” and a bolt accompanied by a small boom of thunder hit the mark.

“…Two…” and another flash struck where the first did, dramatically outlining the structure with a flurry of small electrical charges crawling up and down the spike like living animals.

“…Three.”

The final strike flickered like it couldn’t make up its mind whether it wanted to travel up to the clouds or down to earth. The simultaneous roar of thunder shook the earth like a small quake and the rain fell more like a sheet of water from a waterfall than individual drops. St. Elmo’s fire flared hundreds of feet in the air from atop the Red Rocket, casting the entire area in an unearthly violet light, and then settling down to a steady flame to be a beacon for all to see.

Madman turned, his face in shadow from the violet light behind him but Tianna could swear that his eyes took on the same eerie glow as the flame atop the spire.

“Run.”

She could barely hear him from the din of the rain and the rumbling from the thunderheads above. His iron grip still about her wrist, he wouldn’t let her up.

“Run!”

His voice louder and more insistent now, he still had her in his grasp and his other hand was reaching for his rifle. Lightning flashed from behind her illuminating his face and the bestial mask it had become. Not one to be scared easily, Tianna nonetheless shrieked when his face was inches from hers and he roared, “RRUUUNNNN!!!”

He released her wrist and was bringing the rifle around. She batted it out of the way and shot out of her seat to put as much distance between them. She heard him call after her, “Don’t stop for nothing, Missy! Don’t stop for nothing!” The retort of the rifle punctuated his words even over the deluge about them. She could imagine the pop of the bullet missing her by scant millimeters.

Tianna rounded the front of the house and made for the street, her bare feet pounding the rain soaked grass and then the slick wet asphalt. The illumination from the purple flame atop the Red Rocket was enough to keep from tripping on the debris on the road, but everything else beyond a few feet in any direction was nothing but ominous shadows.

Just past her house an orb of green light appeared ahead of her on the right, where the path across the stream went up to the vault. The green halo emanated from the wrist of a figure in the center. It had to be Malcolm using the pipboy flashlight. _I don’t care what Madman said, there is no way I am letting him keep that pipboy!_

Tianna adjusted her course to take advantage of the shadows and launched herself, hopefully at his blind side. When she was within striking distance, she was in fact slightly behind him. She bit back a ‘Kiai’ to maintain the advantage of surprise and kicked his near leg behind the knee; as he started to topple, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the ground as hard as she could. Malcolm’s heavy combat armor absorbed most the impact of the fall.

“Gungph! What the fu…”

Tianna scrambled to sit on his chest and used the heel of her left hand to strike his forehead and slam his head into the ground. He flailed his arms up to block or strike, but that was what she was waiting for and deftly unbuckled the pipboy from his left arm.

Shots and shouting from down the rain blanketed path rang out. _Too close. I got what I wanted, have to break his balls another day._

Malcolm recovered his wits and tried to grab Tianna, but his hands kept sliding off her rain slick skin as he attempted to hold her wrists and get the valuable pipboy out of her hands. “Godsdamn bitch! I am going to KILL YOU!!”

His hand landed on the neck of her dress and yanked her down for him to stare into her shocked face. “Got you now!”

Adrenaline flooded through Tianna’s system. Her subconscious making comparisons and decisions faster than thought. _Too many of them. Firearms vs hands. Flight over fight. Escape at any cost_. She planted her hand on Malcolm’s chin while sliding her legs off to the left of his legs and ducking her head out of the dress and leaving it empty in his grip.

Malcolm roared as his other hand slipped off her ankle as she scrambled away naked on all fours, slowly getting her legs under her and sprinting off. Ducking and weaving, zigging and zagging, she was unnerved as she continued to hear the pop of bullets passing too close to her. Now that she was away, her conscious and subconscious were having a shouting match with each other.

_How are they targeting me?_

TURN…

_How can I ever hope to escape if they are that good?_

OFF…

_Madman’s that good, maybe he’s helping them?_

THE LIGHT!

Her eyes go wide with realization and she fumbles with the pipboy flashlight turning it off even as she feels a burning sensation on her right hip. “ARGH!!” _GOD BLESS! THAT FREAKING HURTS!_ Tears mix with the rain streaming down her face, and she pushes everything but getting away, to the side. Malcolm and his Gunners are chasing and yelling from somewhere behind her.

The plasma light from the Red Rocket is glowing dimmer by the second and finally goes out as she reaches the entrance of her subdivision. A dozen steps onto the bridge and a bolt of lightning strikes the river on her right side, startling her making her jag left and her foot hits air...

Tianna ran right to the collapsed potion of the wooden bridge and tumbled down to the shallow river below. Naked, bruised and battered, winded and exhausted, and most likely shot, she slowly stirs to find someplace to hide, because running is no longer an option. Something vaguely lighter grey in all the blackness lay off to her left. She crawls over to it and finds that it is an old and battered refrigerator door laying on a sandbar. She crawls underneath and hopes and prays she isn’t found. Fearing that her shivering will somehow give them a clue where she is, she embraces the hated cold. That one sensation that she associates with everything she has lost, and she hates that almost more than everything Malcolm has put her through. She finally stills her body.

Whispering to herself she prays, “God grant me the strength to stand up to bullies, the wisdom to know when to run and the firepower to make a difference. Let me be an instrument of your vengeance. Please may I stay hidden now? Amen.”

The rain on her makeshift shelter, almost drowns out Malcolm’s roar and the ineffective shots testament to their untargeted and impotent rage at the loss of their quarry. Tianna slips into unconsciousness to the rhythm of the rain and water all around.

\---

An hour later, the five gunners were in Tianna’s old house. Malcolm was pacing and Madman was seated at the table with his back to a wall and able to see everyone. Wang was playing with some bug in the corner, Junebug was sprawled out on the couch and Harley was leaning up against the hallway entrance. Malcolm slammed his hand down on the table in front of Madman, “FUCK Madman! How did that bitch get away? You were supposed to be watching her.”

Madman looked up from cleaning his finger nails and looked at each one of the other gunners before looking at Malcolm to address his question, “Some things are meant to be.”

Malcolm put both hands on the table and stared at Madman, “Really?! You’re going with that bullshit. I ought to have you shot for insubordination.” Madman shrugged and just stared back at him with an unconcerned look in his eye.

Malcolm looked away, “FUCK!”

Junebug said from her position on the couch, “She won’t last the night, Captain. If she doesn’t die from exposure, something else will just eat that tasty morsel up sooner or later.”

Harley cleared his throat, “Well _CAPTAIN_ , this is a bust. Headquarters won’t be happy about not getting into the vault, but I guess we could go lend Sergeant Lee a hand with his egg delivery, now.”

Malcolm threw his hands up in exasperation, “Fuck. Yeah, get your gear. No sense in staying around here any longer.”

Junebug sat up, “Aw, come on Captain! Can’t we wait until morning?   Hell, can’t we at least wait until it stops raining? We’re still soaked from earlier. At least give us a chance to get warm again.”

Malcolm strode over to her and hauled her to her feet. He bent down so that they were nose to nose, “I said get your gear bitch. We’re moving out. Now.” He turned her around roughly and booted her in the ass to get her moving. “That means all of you.”

\---

Something cold brushed her cheek, leaving a wet spot behind. Tianna ached all over and so very cold. That cold wet thing brushed her cheek again. Her voice cracked, “Ugh. Go away.” Her mouth was dry and her throat was scratchy and raw. She could feel the mucus seep out her nose and across her other cheek. She was ill, or well on her way to getting that way. Where was she?

Again that cold thing hit her cheek again, and with great effort she opened her eyes to look into the most empathetic and soulful brown eyes she had ever seen. She only meant to blink her eyes for a moment, but she had closed them instead and was almost unconscious again when the cold wet hit her cheek again. She lifted her head and opened her eyes again, hoping that it wasn’t a dream. Those beautiful brown eyes stared back at her, bright and more alive than she felt right now. She closed her eyes again, and felt something warm and wet and oh so soft, slide over her face from chin to between her eyes.

“Blech.”

She opened her eyes again to see a happy German shepherd getting ready to lick her again. “No, no, don’t do that again,” she groaned. All her muscles ached as she waved her hand in front of her face to fend off the inevitable lick, and got her wrist and arm licked instead.

“Miss Tianna, is that you?”

The memory of the past few days comes slowly filtering through the fog of waking and being sick, and she remembers sending Codsworth away before the Gunners got there, “Codsworth? What are you doing here?”

“Oh good, it is you. Your furry, four footed friend found me and he led me here to you.”

Codsworth lifted the makeshift shelter off her, “My word milady! You’re naked and filthy and injured and ill. This won’t do at all. We’ll get you back home make you right as rain.”

Codsworth helped get most of the dirt and mud off her and then produced the extra vault suit and patiently helped her get dressed. Her fatigue and injuries made the simple task take much longer and Tianna only had the strength to focus on one thing at a time, so she couldn’t ask the question on her mind or tell the important details of why they couldn’t go home until she was done. “Look Codsworth, we can’t go home. Malcolm…the Gunners…the bad people might still be there, and I can’t fight them in the condition I’m in.”

The dog took off like a shot up the bank into the subdivision of Sanctuary Hills. He came back moments later, looking like, for all the world that Codsworth and Tianna should follow him. Tianna threw her arms around the Mr. Handy robot and leaned heavily on him and said wearily, “Must be good, let’s go.”

Codsworth increased the output of his hover jet to support the weight of his mistress, “Oh Codsy, that heat feels so nice. Thank you.”

Together they made the journey slowly back to their home and along the way Tianna managed to ask her question, “Codsy, I didn’t send the dog. Why did you think I did?”

“Well mistress, he came right up to me, sat down and barked when I tried to move away. So I challenged him with the pass phrase and he gave the correct answer.”

She looked at him incredulously, and he amended, “Even with his limited vocabulary, he answered correctly with some fine dog tricks. He led me directly to you, so the logical thought was that you told him where to find me and what to say, er..do, as the case may be.”

“I guess that makes him a godsend then.”

Tianna poured herself onto the couch and curled up into a ball. Codsworth scrounged around for something to cover her with and soon she was tucked in and sleeping better then she had all week, with the dog curled on her feet.


	5. The Cold Depths of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tianna finally gets to Concord and finds out more about the world.

Codsworth had taken the rest of her scavenged food, found some edible plants and made a large pot of stew out of all of it. Tianna felt so much better when she woke up and even better after her first bowl. Codsworth set another bowl of stew down in front of her, “Eat up Mum, you have to get your strength back up.” In addition to making the meal, Codsworth had tended to her injuries including the bullet graze on her thigh, washed the vault suit and found #Nate the 10mm pistol she named after her dead husband.

Tianna looked at the dog at her feet as she offered him another piece of the stew, “Well friend, what shall we call you? Since you found me by the river, how about that; River.”

The dog looked at her, yawned and then looked away, not even bothering to take the piece of stew.

“Not to your liking, eh? Can’t very well just call you Dog…”

“Arf.”

Tianna raised her left eyebrow as she appraised him, “Not really original, but if that’s what you want, Dog it is.”  
Dog readily agreed, “Arf.”

She set the half-eaten bowl of food down so Dog could fuel up as well. “Codsworth, my trip to Concord has been delayed long enough. Time to get going.” She got up and picked up her makeshift pack made from some old denim she found in one of the neighbor houses. Dog gave the empty bowl a final lick and joined her at her side. 

Codsworth cleared his ‘throat’ as he offered Tianna her wedding ring, “Miss Tianna, I found this out in the back just this morning. I don’t believe you want this lost.”  
She practically knocked him to the ground as she hugged him tight, “Oh Codsy, you are just the best!” Her eyes were misty as she planted a kiss on his hull below his middle eye. She put the ring back on her finger and called over her shoulder, “Off we go, once more unto the breach dear friends.”  
\---  
Tianna walked past the Red Rocket coolant station and noted that the structure was solid and remarkably intact. She shied away from it as she could still hear Madman’s voice echo in her mind, ‘Lightning strikes one…two…three.’ She skirted the road directly into town opting instead to check out the houses on the hill that overlooked Concord.

Dog found the body first. A young woman, much younger than Tianna’s 26 years; with dirty blonde hair and leathers that had been shredded. Tears streamed down Tianna’s cheeks as she recognized the whip marks beneath what was left of the poor girl’s clothes and remembered what those welts felt like. Rigor mortis had completely set in, so she may have been alive as little as 12 to 24 hours ago and as long as 3 days. 'This could have been me. More importantly, I could have helped her at least not let her die alone. If only I had been stronger, quicker, smarter. We may have never been friends. Hell, we may have even tried to kill each other under different circumstances, but I am so sorry that I couldn’t bust those bastards; that I couldn’t be here for you at the end.'  
Dog lightly leaned up against Tianna offering his support. She wrapped her arms around him, “We make a quick see of Concord and come back and give her a ‘proper send off’ before night fall or first thing tomorrow morning. Alright?”

“Arf.”

\---

Tianna shook her head wondering how she got here. It was supposed to be a simple trip to Concord to maybe meet who ever might live there and find some direction in finding her son, but when the first person she met suddenly charged her with a cue stick and murder in his eyes, she pulled #Nate in a panic and shot him in the gut instead of the chest where she had been taught to aim.

Up close he looked like a young ganger, with leathers and tattoos and scars all over and he had this look of ‘Oh well, that’s life and then you die,’ like hope wasn’t part of his universe as he tried to stop the blood from oozing out his body. She put her emotions away and put a bullet through his head before he could bring his backup knife to bear. The look that left his eyes with his life was triumphant, ‘Made you waste a bullet on a dead man, bitch.’

Two more dead in the street and the man on the balcony of the Freedom Museum sounded relieved as he asked her to come inside where it was safe. Safe being a relative term. These pilgrims, settlers, or however you wanted to describe them, were under siege from raiders. Call them what you will, new name same structure and faces, raiders were still gangers.

Preston Garvey was the young black man who called her up. He belonged to a group called the Minutemen; a volunteer militia of now, according to him, just himself. Idealistic and capable, someone who always had your back. Sturgis, a happy go lucky tinkerer of all things mechanical and electrical, but with something just on the odd side of normal. Jun & Marcy Long, grieving parents who lost their son. Tianna had to bite back hard on her emotions not to grieve with them. Then there was Mama Murphy. Strange old woman that reminded her way too much of Madman; so Tianna kept away from her. She couldn’t help but learn a few things from the talkative old lady, though.

One; Dog’s full name is Dogmeat and that they sent him to find help; enter Tianna. Apparently he was going to stay by her side and she was more than fine with that. Dogmeat and her were buddies now, nothing would change that.

Two; Mama Murphy says she can ‘feel’ that Shaun is still alive. Tianna wasn’t about to put much stake in what the old lady said, but any hope in the dark was something that she would hold onto and guard with her life.

Three; something was coming and it was angry.

So here she was with a white, well relatively white; cloth to try and get the ‘raiders’ to stand down long enough to talk. She kept down as a few pot shots came her way. The one with the white mohawk finally got the others to stop shooting.

Tianna shouted out over the balcony where she was hunkered down, “What do you want to let get out of here alive?”

The leader shouted up, “Give us the ol’ lady. And the hat. I want the hat!” Mama Murphy was the prize they wanted. They wouldn’t back down from that demand. The hat was just coveted swag.

Preston was the only one wearing a hat. A wide brim affair with the right side tucked up. Tianna glanced at him, “You willing to give up your hat?”  
His eyes narrowed and he scowled, “You can’t trust them and we are not giving Mama Murphy to those scum.”

“Of course not, but you would be willing to give up the hat, right?”

He frowned as his fondness for his hat flitted through his thoughts, and he nodded his head once. Mama Murphy grinned like a fool and chuckled, “I knew you’d do the right thing, kid. I saw it.”

Tianna called back over the balcony, “The hat’s yours. Give us ten minutes and we’ll be right down.”

The raider called back, “You got five, or we come in and take what we want.”

Tianna looked at the five refuges, “Five minutes for us to get out of this alive. Anyone got a good plan?”

September 2070

After a four-and-a-half-hour flight from the Boston law office, paralegal in training Tianna Cross found herself being escorted through the gates of Fort Bragg. The name tag on the Gunnery Sergeant before her read ‘Evans’. He looked every part the stereotypical Army Drill Sergeant. From the top of his 6’3” frame with a buzz cut under his cap, square set jaw, bulging muscles everywhere, on down to the mirror polished boots on his feet.

The appraising look he gave her was one she had never seen before. She straightened up and looked him in the eye when he was done evaluating her physique. 

“What’s your name?”

“Tianna Cross, Si…Gunnery Sergeant.”

“You’re quick.” Evans gave a genuine smile, “You’ll do well for the next 4 weeks.”

Tianna’s eyes widened in surprise, “Four weeks?!” Then in a much lower voice “I was told a weekend.” She looked at the Sergeant quizzically, “Why would I need more than a weekend in a power frame simulator to compile my notes?”

The sergeant’s answer was a clipped bark, “Simulators are for children and arcades. You won’t learn anything in a sim. You gotta be trained to work these rigs. Real training is with real frames. Got it?”

Tianna set her jaw and tried to stare Evans down, “Got it Sergeant. Four weeks it is. I’ll do my best.”

She flinched as Evans bent down so they were nose to nose, his voice gravelly and low for just their ears, “You’ll do better than that. You’ll do your best, your all, and then some more. Four weeks is assuming you pass. Don’t pass you’ll be here till you do.”

Evans turned ignoring her and called over to a group of men nearby, “Sergeant Cutter. Sergeant Daly. Front and center. Recruit Cross is your responsibility. Fast track her on the power armor, and have her ready in 3 weeks.”

“You got it Gunny.”

Both men were handsome and when they turned to her, her heart fluttered, 'Down girl. No time for flirting. We have a job to do. Theirs will be relentless instruction, and mine will be to learn it all and then some. Maybe when it’s over I can ‘learn’ one or both of those fine bodies. Yum!'

Sergeant Cutter’s voice was warm and his smile genuine, “Alright recruit Cross, I am Sergeant Nate Cutter, and this is Sergeant Michael Daly. You will refer to me as Sergeant or Sergeant Cutter; him is Sergeant or Sergeant Daly. We will be your personal instructors. You will do what we tell you when we tell you. Let’s get you some proper uniforms, something to eat and a bunk. Hell starts earlier then you want and there will be no time for rest until you walk out that gate.”

Tianna steeled herself for what was to come and resolved to not break, “Bring it on Sergeant, that’s what I am here for.”

October 30, 2287

Sturgis had a plan involving a fusion core in the basement, a suit of power armor abandoned on the roof and a minigun. Now here Tianna was with a half full fusion core in hand and looking at a T-45 power armor that had seen better days. The same model she had trained on. She would do this, these were the first good people she had met and she couldn’t deny them a chance to get out of this alive.

A military vertibird; a VTOL airship about the size of a large luxury SUV; with a door mounted minigun, had crashed into the roof of the Freedom Museum when it got hit with the EMP from the initial bombs. The pilot of the power armor left the suit here when its fusion core ran out. Tianna gently cleaned the stenciled name on the front left side of the armor: SSG Daly. A lump formed in her throat and a tear escaped down her cheek. “I guess that’s two I owe you Mike. Don’t know how I will pay that debt, but I am sure that God will be entertained by how it’s done.” She turned away, wiped the tears from her eyes and swallowed back a sob, “May She welcome you to Heaven in the safety of Her embrace forever. Amen.”

Tianna checked all her weapons and made sure they were loaded; the two 10mm, a .38 homemade revolver with 6 rounds, a .308 pipe rifle with 3 rounds, a loaded sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, a machete, and the minuteman laser musket she picked up off Preston’s dead companion. She went about finding a place or making a holster on the armor so she could reach all of them when needed. She braided some denim into a sling for the minigun. She wasn’t planning to use it on the raiders, that would just be inefficient spread out the way they were. Nate always said to use the proper tool for the job and this job would a walk in the park, even without the minigun.

She popped the old spent fusion core out of the armor and slammed the fresh one in. She didn’t realize it until now, but the vault suit was nearly identical to the skin suits she wore when she was training in the power armor seven years ago. 'No matter how much time may have passed; 70, 107, or 217 years, it’s still only 7 years ago as far as my memories are concerned. Give me a hand; will you Mike. You and Nate keep an eye on my 6 for me, and I’ll do my best to get everyone out of this alive.'

The armor opened up and before she climbed in, she placed Preston’s hat on the helmet. The armor closed around her and the status display revealed that the integrity of the right arm, left leg and helmet were red line low. “What I wouldn’t do for a riot shield right now,” she muttered to herself.

One of the nice things about the armor and power frames was the way they could absorb a landing. The marines liked to do low altitude running drops from the vertibirds. Now the plan was that Preston would cover her when the raiders noticed her or she landed on the ground, but as soon as she removed the minigun from its mount, a raider on the roof of a building across the street shouted a warning and started to shoot at her.

Preston in one word was amazing. The raider only got off one shot that went wide, before the crimson beam from Preston’s laser musket hit the raider and started a spontaneous chain reaction that turned him to ash in an instant.

She secured the minigun in the braided sling and took a running jump off the roof and landed with a resounding boom in front of two other raiders. In her mind’s eye, the world skewed to the side and it felt like she was detached watching from outside her body as events transpired. She emptied the .38 and let the recoil help stitch a line of holes from the stomach through the raider’s thin leather breast piece all the way up to man’s jaw.

The other raider; the leader with the white mohawk, was shouting orders even as his small caliber rounds bounced off, chipping away at the power armor. Tianna dropped the spent .38 and drew #Nate. Her legs churned and her steps pounded down on the cracked asphalt like the small one man tank the armor made her into. She closed to within 3 paces of the leader and double tapped the 10mm putting two neat holes between the raider’s eyes. “Looks like you won’t be needing the hat or the old lady after all. Guess we’ll keep them then.”

“GRISTLE! NOOO!!”

The scream came from a woman down the street who rose from cover and started firing wildly. Tianna holstered #Nate, dropped to one knee as she drew the .308 rifle over her right shoulder from off her back. The barrel was straight and the sights true, the bullet pierced the woman’s chest as the report of the shot echoed off the buildings in the street.

A battle cry alerted Tianna and she turned to fire from the hip at the charging trio on her left flank. The lead man fell over dead and the other two skidded to a stop, panicked and ran ducking around the corner of the nearest building and heading north. She turned back towards main street and advanced to a barricade on right side of the street and lined up her last shot with the rifle. She had the man dead to rights as she squeezed the trigger.

KA-BOOM! CLANG!

The thick steel road plating flew into the air and her last round from the rifle slammed into it saving the man from certain death. A cloud of white dust and smoke briefly obscured the shapes moving around at the intersection down the street. 

A piercing scream of terror erupted presumably from the man Tianna was targeting. As the cloud ebbed and flowed and settled, she caught a glimpse of a huge hulking figure with a massive head and curling, down sweeping horns. The cloud swirled around it as it stepped forward obscuring it once again. An immense clawed hand flashed in and out of the cloud and silenced the screaming.

Tianna’s perception snapped back to herself, but she stared in shock as the cloud settled and a demon stood amid bloody body pieces of hapless dead raiders. At least half again as tall as a man, impossibly long arms with deadly claws at the end and ash colored horns atop a large reptilian head with lots of teeth. 'My God! Did we so break the world that hell is empty and all the devils are now here?'

Preston and the others were yelling at her to run but she was rooted to the spot in shock as the monster dropped to all fours and dashed off out of sight to the left chasing after more screaming raiders. A moment later another fleeing figure came into view and was cut down with a single swipe of those deadly claws.

Tianna started when the malevolent eyes of the Beast looked inside her and found her terrified. She dropped the rifle and fumbled to bring up the minigun mashing the fire button and praying the thing would work against the hellspawn. The barrels spinning, she brought it level as the thing galloped down the street. Deadly lead started spraying forth and doing little damage to the thick hide of the charging beast. Partly because she had a hard time keeping on target as the demon zigged and zagged toward her. She put more pressure on the fire button in the useless hope that it would make the gun fire faster and hit harder and then it was on her.

It grabbed her up in two clawed hands and shook her violently making her rattle inside the armor. It hurled her back down the street from where it came. Tianna flew through the air and curled herself around the minigun to prevent it from being permanently damaged. She landed on her left side and skidded to a sparking screeching stop. The status display blinked critical, indicating her left leg armor was scrapped down to the frame and no longer there. She could feel the burn of road rash where the road had rubbed her leg through the vault suit. Any more damage to that leg and her ability to be a tank on the battle field would end just like her leg.

Dogmeat barked and Tianna saw him dash in and nip the back of the right foot of the Beast. It flinched, stepped forward and flung a blind swipe at the dog. 

Tianna screamed, “NOOO!!” adrenalin flooded her veins she and surged to her feet. Dogmeat scooted with tail tucked between his legs out of the way of the claws by a hairs breadth. 

She passed behind a derelict car and brought the spinning minigun up. The concentrated fire made penetration past the armored scales and some crimson could be seen amidst the black hide. The monster roared and leaped after Tianna. She side stepped into the narrow alley way between the buildings and retreated about half way down.

The memory of Nate’s voice purred in her mind from ages ago, “In the armor, you become a tank; the battleship of the battle field. Heavily armored, highly mobile and the capability of carrying lots of destructive fire power. But a tank is only effective if it retains it mobility. Without the ability to move, a tank is just a stationary gun; easily targeted and taken out.”

The Beast stepped into the alley, its wide shoulders bumping into the walls as it stepped forward. The clearance would be enough to move but not for making the wide sweeping slashes with its deadly claws or turning tail and running away. It took another step forward and Tianna retreated two. This close to it she could see that it was just an animal; one she was unfamiliar with; but an animal all the same. 

Confidence surged within her as she started the minigun spinning, “Alright beastie, you may be a tank too, but you bleed, you die. Let’s see you dodge this now.” She pulled the trigger aiming low and back pedaled away even as it surged forward. The concentrated fire stripped the scales from the legs, tearing into the flesh beneath, and causing it to stumble and slow its advance. It finally collapsed with one outstretched claw inches away from power armor, the grimace on its reptilian face full of pain. Tianna stepped on the reaching arm, drew the shotgun and fired into the animal’s eye. “Be at peace.”

Preston and the others found Tianna sitting next to the Deathclaw with her helmet off and Dogmeat leaning up against her. She looked up at them and handed Preston his hat as they approached and said, “You didn’t tell me you had demons.”  
\---  
Malcolm Creed and crew moved quietly through the uninhabited city of Salem. Mirelurks; mutated crabs or lobsters; were most everywhere this close to the sea and dangerous enough to be avoided when possible. Staying close to one of the biggest intact inland buildings they had just crossed in front of the entrance doors approaching the north corner when Madman stepped up and clamped his hand over Junebug’s mouth and crushed her back up against his broad chest. He motioned everyone else to freeze.

Snuffling could be heard coming from around the corner. Each member of the quintet took a quiet sniff and detected the unmistakable scent of blood heavy in the air. A cloud moved and the late afternoon sun cast the long shadow of a deathclaw before them.

Malcolm let out a silent “FUCK! Lousy goddamn deathclaws!!” He motioned everyone back the way they came. Light scaping and then a door creaking open and then banging shut repeatedly could now be heard from where the deathclaw was at. Madman let Junebug slip from his hold and she moved deadly silent back around the seaward corner.

The others joined her just as the they heard a protracted pause between creak and bang of the cellar door. Shots rang out deep in the building followed by a woman’s scream cut short. An anguished “Aw, man.” came to them from the other side of the boarded-up window.

“Lee is that you,” Harley inquired in a hushed tone.

“Harley? Man, something is coming for us! Get me out of here!” There were more shots and yelling that end abruptly. “Oh God, it got Major Jefferies.”

“You got a deathclaw on your tail, dude, you are fucked. What the fuck are you carrying?”

“An…egg? Aw fuck. Harley, you asshole, get me out of here.”

Malcolm stepped up and called through the window, “We don’t have the firepower and we already met our quota of deathclaws this month. You’re on your own, Sergeant. See ya in hell.”

“FUCK YOU ASSHOLES! I’ll be waiting in hell to be your CO, you bastards.”

Malcolm herded them away from the ranting on the other side of the wall. “That’s a bust. I need a drink. What about the rest of you?” Everyone else agreed as they headed back to Boston. “Great, let’s see what Tommy is serving up at the Combat Zone.”


End file.
